Schooley's Mountain Park

Beautiful

A beautiful park with lots of activities and hiking/outdoor activity opportunities. Used to be primarily locals, unfortunately has gotten a lot of attention from individuals and groups from east NJ & NYC who are generally less respectful of the park and others. Lots of litter left around, loud kids, etc. Would like to see perhaps some days or areas (especially picnic tables & barbecue grills) reserved only for Morris County/Long Valley residents

Lots of space, picnic tables, etc. Permanent bathrooms not open, portapotty was a mess.

Great park. Nicely spaced out picnic tables. Several easy trails for whole family to enjoy. The bridge across pond and over waterfalls are particularly enjoyable.

Good half day trip for a family outing. Parking is abundant, and easy to find space even on a busy day. I had some difficulty finding the hike from the parking (hint - starts at the end of the lake / pond), but once you find it, its an easy path to start with. The most popular hike leads to a waterfall so expect a continuous stream of visitors on a weekend. The hike starts of easy, then gets a bit rocky, eventually leads to a tricky area which might need you to be a bit nimble to navigate. I did find a nice ledge to sit on with my feet in the water and enjoy the sight of a few people grinding their backsides on their way down the path (I know, wasn't nice of me but just couldn't resist).nnFound a lot of kids in swim suits / shorts making the most of the small waterfall. Didn't think the water was very clean but they didn't seem to mind. (I did notice a slight smell in the water closer to the damn near the start of the hike - so you might like to consider a nice shower when you get home).nnCovid note - make sure you carry a mask, most of the path is rather narrow and you might be breathing into a sweaty passerby.